1. Field of the Invention
With reference to the classification of art as established in and by the U.S. Patent Office the present invention is believed to be in the General Class identified as "Dispensing" (Class 222) and in the subclass therein entitled, "movable or conveyor-type trap chamber with capacity varying means-single inlet-outlet, adjustable bottom" (subclass 306) and the subclass thereunder entitled, "wall with straight line movements" (subclass 307) and the further subclass entitled, "screw adjusting means" (subclass 308).
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dispensing apparatus using hoppers in which powder or granular material is fed to a rotary disk having pockets provided are well known. This material is fed downwardly in this hopper and at a discharge outlet the material is fed to a pocket on the rotating disk. This pocket is filled as it is rotated and then is closed by a shroud portion. At a later point in the rotation of this disk the pocket is emptied by transferring the contents of the pocket onto a travelling web of film and the like. This concept is not new and a careful pre-Ex search of the art developed the following patents which have been carefully considered. Rotary dispensers are very old in the art as in SHELDON, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 8,938 of Oct. 21, 1879; SMITH et al, U.S. Pat. No. 507,177 of Oct. 24, 1893; MC GINNITY, U.S. Pat. No. 709,793 of Sept. 23, 1902; SALFISBERG, U.S. Pat. No. 2,472,440 of June 7, 1948; STEELE et al, U.S. Pat. No. 2,779,512 of Jan. 29, 1957; HETLAND et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,751 of July 31, 1979; HOENSCH, German Pat. No. 81,360 of Sept. 2, 1894 and HARTMANN, German Pat. No. 233,231 of Mar. 29, 1908.
In these references and other apparatus known to the applicant, a hopper is provided and a rotary disk dispenser with a plurality of pockets is brought in way of the dispensing outlet. In many, if not all, of the devices the pocket is brought to the outlet and with and by rotation is filled by gravity and then the rotary disk is brought in way of an enclosing shroud. A further rotation of the disk enables each pocket to be emptied onto a travelling web. The emptied pocket is then rotated again to the hopper outlet. Very minute changes in the volume of the pocket are desirable since the material dispensed in usually by weight. Each pocket must also be equal as to volume.
In the present invention a precise and equal change in the volume of each pocket is provided by a tapered plug which is moved in and out to cause a supporting pin or member mounted with each pocket to be moved inwardly or outwardly to reduce or expand the capacity of each pocket. The present apparatus not only has a rotary disk having a plurality of pockets in each disk to deposit material onto a travelling web but also a plurality of rotary disks in aligned array is provided for simultaneous emptying of the pockets on a travelling web. Precise capacity is very important because the material to be packaged is a powder that may change its specific gravity because of the humidity or because of manufacturing conditions.